


Nora

by dinosaursmate



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (hahaha), First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Frottage, Lots of Cats, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:43:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9628520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaursmate/pseuds/dinosaursmate
Summary: “How do I know if she likes me?” Louis asked.Harry walked around Louis and crouched down slightly to look Nora in the face.“Do you like Louis, baby?” Harry cooed. “You wanna go home with him?”“What did she say?” Louis asked with a small grin on his face.-A lonely Louis decides to adopt a cat. Harry had a favourite who he's desperate to find a home for.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank youuuu to [Sus](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/) for cleaning up my act and betaing for me.
> 
> This is part of a prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Cat". To read the other amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/cat/works) and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2017_hl_prompt_challenge/works).

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Cheers.”

McDonald’s was fairly quiet, young mothers feeding chips to small children, an older couple in the corner bickering quietly. It was warmer inside, music playing with the volume low. It was pretty windy outside, autumn leaves swirling and flying through the air. 

Louis slipped into a booth with his food tray. It was 11am, and yes, that was a stupid time for a lunch break. But instead of a 9-5, he worked 7-3, and so he was famished. He had decided he’d start making and bringing in his own lunch as of next week, but right now he was looking forward to tucking into a Big Mac that he’d been craving for weeks. 

Louis had left his phone back in his work locker. He wouldn’t have any messages, but if he did, he didn’t want to see them. He’d left Doncaster - and everybody there - behind for a reason. Aside from his family, he was completely disinterested in hearing from anybody.

As he chomped into his burger, he watched an elderly man sit down in a booth on the other side of the restaurant. He was eighty, at least; skinny and frail, hands shaking as he slowly ate a chicken nugget. It hit Louis straight in the heart. He wasn’t exactly distraught about being single again, but he had a deep rooted fear of being alone. Not now, of course. He was thirty, and he knew he had plenty of time to find another _ love of his life,  _ but he definitely had a fear of growing old single and alone. 

The fear still wasn’t enough to stay in Doncaster and stay with  _ him. _ Now that he was living in London - knowing absolutely no one - he could be whoever he wanted to be. Reinvent himself. Become the person he wanted to be instead of who he’d become.

Eating McDonald’s on his lunch break from his call centre job didn’t exactly fit who he wanted to be, but it was a start. He felt brave for leaving, if he was honest. Louis’ mouth cocked into a smile as he saw an elderly woman sit down opposite the man and start to share his chicken nuggets.

-

It was just temporary. It had to be temporary.

The flat was tiny and a little bit run down, the windows only single glazed so it was chilly and unlikely to fully warm up in winter. It was draughty as hell and Louis resolved to get himself some heavy curtains for all the windows. And some draught excluders. 

He sat on the sofa, curled up into himself and clutched a cup of tea. Maybe he should make friends with the neighbours? He hadn’t wanted to go out drinking with the call centre lot. They were all at least ten years younger than him and he could do with not being make to feel old, not yet at least. 

He made a quick phone call to his mum but it just wasn’t enough to dispel the sad feeling of loneliness in his heart. He’d been used to having someone around these past few years, and the silence was unbearable. Maybe he should get a dog? No. That wasn’t fair, working eight hours a day. Maybe a fish?  _ Don’t be stupid, _ he told himself.  _ Fish don’t make good company. _

He giggled to himself at the thought when he was on the bus coming home from work the next afternoon. Loneliness was on his mind again as he prepared to head back to a cold, empty flat. He glanced out the window, sighing, and that’s when he saw it. 

_ Cats Protection _ _  
_ _ North London Adoption Centre _

A little van in front of the centre had a picture of a cat on it and wore the slogan,  _ make your house a home. _

Louis rang the bell at once and hurried off the bus at the next stop.

When he walked through the door of the adoption centre, a lady of around sixty looked up and smiled warmly. A fairly large, black dog scrambled to its feet, approaching Louis and wagging its tail. 

“That’s Frank,” the lady smiled. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, um…” Louis cleared his throat, smiling softly down at Frank who was patiently sitting at his left, waiting to be petted. “I was thinking of adopting a cat.”

“You’ve come to the right place! I’ll just check if a Care Assistant is available for a chat. Take a seat.”

Louis sat down on the small, padded bench against the wall. Frank followed him, licking Louis’ hand when he held it out to him. One day, he’d definitely adopt a dog. A big one, he thought; one to climb up on the bed on a Sunday morning and lay clumsily on top of him, licking his face and big, brown eyes begging for his breakfast. He glanced down at Frank, who walked away from Louis, having lost interest.

“Hi.”

Louis looked up and a man waved at him. He was probably around Louis’ age, maybe slightly younger, dark hair pulled back into a bun. He had a bright, cheerful expression on his face and Louis almost laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Hi, I’m Louis.” He held his hand out. 

“Hello, Louis. My name’s Harry, I’m a Cat Care Assistant here.” Harry took Louis’ hand and shook it. “June tells me you’re interested in adopting?”

“Yeah, I’ve just moved down here and could do with the company.”

Harry’s mouth cocked into a smile. “Okay, would you like to follow me?”

Louis followed Harry through to the back. Clean, white cages lined the walls and at the end stood a pen containing a handful of cats romping around.

“So, do you have a kind of cat in mind?” Harry asked, leaning his side against a cage and poking  finger inside. The cat approached and started to rub its face against his hand. “Age, temperament?”

“Not really. I want a companion, really, so a cat who likes to cuddle is probably best.”

Harry grinned at Louis and Louis found himself grinning back.

“Okay. Can I ask about your personal circumstances? What do you do? Do you have a large home? A garden?”

“I live in a flat. It’s pretty tiny, to be honest, I do have a small garden, though. I work 7-3, Monday to Friday.”

“Alright,” Harry murmured, tapping his chin and looking around, thoughtfully. “Most people come in looking for kittens. But if you’re not after a kitten in particular, can I interest you in a cat a bit older? Few years old, maybe?”

“Sure.”

Harry hummed to himself, eyes scanning the cages.

“Oh!” He nodded to himself. “Louis, how would you feel about a cat who has some  _ special _ needs?”

“Like what?”

Harry smiled, leading him over to a cage at the other end of the room. 

“This little girl was found in a house with, like, a dozen other cats a year ago. The owner had died and so we had to bring all the cats in.”

Louis peered into the cage at a ball of fluff, a mess of black and brown and orange. He couldn’t see where the cat began or ended.

Harry continued, “The others are all gone, but Nora here gets overlooked a bit. She’s got a bit of a skin condition so she gets bald patches, and also-” Harry clicked his tongue and Nora’s head darted up, glancing at him and Louis. “She’s only got one eye.”

Nora stood up slowly, digging her claws into the carpet and stretching backwards. She made her way to the door, meowing at Harry before licking at his fingertip.

“Hello,” Louis said softly, poking his own finger into the cage. Nora sniffed it, turning her back to him and going for a drink.

“She’s lovely, I promise,” Harry grinned. “She’s also got no upper canine teeth, so she needs her food in small chunks, rather than those big chunks you get in cheaper wet food. Would you like to meet her?”

Louis shrugged and nodded. Harry opened the cage door and Nora came trotting over at once. Harry gathered her up in his arms, cradling her and cooing quietly.

“She’s gorgeous,” Louis said.

“Named her myself,” Harry said with a smile, rubbing his finger by her cheek. “She’s actually my favourite here. I really want her to find a home.”

Louis couldn’t help but giggle as Harry pouted pleadingly at him. Nora was pawing at Harry’s shoulder, her claws digging in and retracting. Harry pulled her away from him and handed her to Louis. 

She squirmed at first at the unfamiliar touch, settling in to grip at Louis’ shoulder and peer behind him. Her fur was kind of rough and he could see now she had a few bald patches.

“Um- she needs ointment for her skin condition, she’s happy to let you put it on if you bribe her with a bit of tuna. And she doesn’t need it all the time.”

“How do I know if she likes me?” Louis asked. 

Harry walked around Louis and crouched down slightly to look Nora in the face.

“Do you like Louis, baby?” Harry cooed. “You wanna go home with him?”

“What did she say?” Louis asked with a small grin on his face.

“Hm, well, she’ll come around, eventually,” Harry sighed, moving back to face Louis, whose eyes widened and frowned. “I’m joking, I’m joking! She seems perfectly happy.”

“Oh, good.”

“What do you think?”

“Um, well, sounds like she needs a good home and she seems lovely.”

“She is, you have my word.” Harry winked at Louis, and he was starting to wonder if he could take Harry home instead. “I need to do a home visit, just to check your place out, but if you’d like to come with me, I’ll give you some paperwork to fill out and I’ll officially list her as reserved!”

Harry took Nora from Louis, kissing her on the head and placing her back in her cage. He was grinning like crazy, and although Louis did like Nora, it was worth adopting the cat just to see that look on Harry’s face.

“She’s normally quite a quiet cat, but she’ll scream at you if you’re late feeding her. She likes a routine, does our Nora. Oh, I think she’ll really thrive in a home. Do you think you’d let her on the furniture? She’d love to curl up on a sofa, I think. If not, that’s okay, she loves her bed so that would be fine.”

“Oh, yeah, I don’t see myself having a problem with letting her on the furniture.”

“Oh, good!”

Louis smiled softly as they reached reception, Harry handing some forms to Louis to fill out.

-

It was really difficult to tell if the flat smelled or not. Louis couldn’t smell anything apart from Pledge. Maybe it didn’t smell in the flat. Or maybe he’d become immune.

Louis didn’t know how badly he wanted a cat until he started to prepare for this home visit. Harry would be here in less than an hour, and the cakes Louis had baked - to make the flat smell homely - were sitting on top of the oven, cooling and sinking miserably. Well, Louis hadn’t expected anything more. He didn’t know why he’d bothered, anyway. It would be evident enough to Harry that Louis was a single, lonely man living in near squalor. 

Louis threw himself down on the sofa, sighing. He thought about nipping over to Sainsbury’s to buy some cupcakes that were actually edible, but he didn’t want to go too over the top. A homely smell and yummy cupcakes were unlikely to be the deciding factor for Harry. 

Louis rested as he scrolled through his phone for a bit, before moving into the kitchen to deal with the cupcakes. He tried one, cringing in disgust. He threw the lot in the bin, sighing. He felt stupid for thinking it was a good idea, to be honest.

“I can’t tell if it smells in here,” Louis murmured to himself. “Does it smell?”

He breathed out, waiting for a second before slowly inhaling to catch the scent.

He shrugged to himself. “Hm, can’t smell anything. Apart from soggy cake. Ugh.”

He busied himself with emptying the teapot, rinsing it while the kettle boiled. As he made the tea, putting the cosy on to keep it hot, the doorbell rang.

“Shit,” Louis muttered. “He’s early.”

He quickly put away the polish and duster, throwing the hoover into the airing cupboard, and made his way to the door.

“Hiya!” Harry beamed. “I’m so sorry, I’m a bit early.”

“Are you?” Louis frowned, looking at his watch. “No harm done. Come in.”

Louis led Harry inside, feeling very aware that his little flat was under scrutiny. He gestured for Harry to sit down on his squashy, dusky pink sofa and offered him a cup of tea.

“Thanks. No sugar please, trying to cut it out.”

“So you should,” Louis scoffed with a grin. “Sugar in tea is gross.”

“What can I say? I have a sweet tooth.”

Damn. Should’ve bought some cake after all.

Louis poured out the tea and sat on the other end of the sofa. Harry clutched his cup of tea with big hands, a small smile plastered on his face as he straightened his blue Cats Protection Polo shirt. His hair was down today, brown, glossy curls tumbling down to past his shoulders.

“Um- so, have you owned cats before?”

“We had a cat when I was a kid.”

“Okay, so you’re aware of the basics it takes to take care of them? Well, as I explained, Nora takes a bit of special care. You can let her out, she won’t wander too far, probably won’t even leave the garden. Reckon she’ll climb a lot, too, so make sure nothing will fall over if she climbs up it.”

Louis nodded intently. He glanced around, checking if he’d need to secure anything.

“Alright.”

“I’d also advise keeping her on the food she’s on now, it’s the one that suits her the best, considering her skin condition. Things like Whiskers aggravates her. And, as I said, if you feed her wet food or the odd cheeky snack, it needs to be in small chunks. She’s fine with chomping on dry food but she can’t chew through anything else, really.”

“Got it.”

“Great!” Harry stood up and walked to the window to peer out into the garden. “Yeah, I mean I reckon she’ll jump up on the fence, have a look around, but don’t think she’ll go anywhere.”

“I need to go shopping for supplies,” Louis mused before raising his eyebrows. “Uh- I mean, you know, if you approve me.”

Harry turned to grin at Louis, and Louis felt at ease. Harry leaned back against the wall, arms folded.

“So you just moved in?” Harry asked, still grinning. “You’re not gonna change your mind and move away any time soon?”

“Oh, definitely not,” Louis said flatly. There was no way he was going back to Doncaster. He was determined to build a life down here in London, on his own, as terrifying as it was. Well, hopefully he wouldn’t be on his own. Louis and Nora, against the world.

“Cats can live past twenty years, and I just need to make sure you’re in it for the long haul. It would break my heart to uproot Nora again, if you had a change in circumstance, and couldn’t keep her for some reason. You’re not likely to get married, have kids any time soon, anything like that?”

“Oh, no. Unless Chad Michael Murray decides to leave his wife and sweep me off my feet, there will be none of all that any time soon.”

Harry screwed his face up in a frown and a split second of panic clouded Louis’ mind.  _ He’s not homophobic,  _ Louis told himself.  _ Don’t be silly. _

“Who’s Chad Michael Murray?”

“What?” Louis scoffed in amusement. “He was in One Tree Hill. Agent Carter? Freaky Friday?! A Cinderella Story?!”

“Oh, yeah!” Harry nodded brightly and Louis cocked an eyebrow. “I know him.”

“What did it, A Cinderella Story?”

“Yeah,” Harry laughed. “He’s alright, yeah, but I don’t think he’ll leave his wife in order to co-parent Nora with you.”

“Fine,” Louis sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. “Single parenting it is then.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” Harry grinned, winking. He walked back over to sit down on the sofa, grabbing his cup of tea and downing the lot. “I’m fairly happy with everything, but I just have a couple of sticking points.”

“Oh?” Louis said, concerned, his heart starting to pound wildly. 

“I’d like you to install a cat flap, if you can. It’s not a huge thing if you can’t, it’s just I’d prefer it, you know? But more importantly - just by the door over there,” Harry pointed to the living room doorway, “you’ve just got a few holes and cracks in the floorboards and I think they’re a bit of a risk for her little paws. Do you think you’d be able to get that fixed?”

“Oh, um, yeah, I suppose so.”

“Great! So, unfortunately I can’t let you bring her home until that’s done, but don’t worry, I’ll keep her reserved. I’ll take good care of her.”

“I’m sure you will,” Louis responded with a smile. He sighed in relief as Harry smiled back, putting his empty cup on the coffee table and standing to his feet.

“Were you a bit nervous, Louis?” Harry asked with a smirk. “Am I that intimidating?”

Louis snorted, catching himself too late and giving Harry a sweet smile.

“No, I just… didn’t know what to expect.”

“Well,” Harry sniffed, clearing his throat and straightening his shirt once again, “I’m firm, but fair.”

“I don’t know if I’d say you were  _ firm…” _ Louis replied, trying not to grin to himself when he tracked Harry’s hands smoothing down his shirt. He certainly looked firm enough. “Just… good at your job.”

Harry’s face softened at that. “Thank you. Okay, well, look. You get onto your landlord about those floorboards and the cat flap, and give me a call. You’re very welcome to come in and visit Nora whenever you want, just check our opening times on the website, okay?”

“Thanks.” Louis walked Harry to the door. He gathered his long curls up in one hand, bringing them to his right shoulder as he slipped his coat on. “Take care.”

“You, too,” Harry smiled, opening the front door and giving Louis a brief wave before setting off down the path. 

-

Louis felt stupid. He wasn’t sure why. He was just going to visit his cat. That was literally the only reason he was here. No other reason at all.

“Hello!” June the receptionist smiled as he walked in. Frank the dog trotted over to greet him. “You here to visit your girl?”

“Please,” Louis smiled. 

“Harry’s so glad he found her a home,” June said, dropping the volume of her voice. “He really wanted to take her home himself, but we’ve all got to be strict with ourselves, or we’d take them all home.”

“Understandable,” Louis nodded solemnly.

“He has four cats,” June raised an eyebrow. “He takes the most elderly ones home so they can live their last days in comfort.”

Louis must have been feeling particularly emotionally delicate because he felt himself welling up.

“That’s lovely,” he managed to croak out.

June gave him a short nod of agreement and disappeared into the back. Louis crouched down to get face-to-face with Frank, scratching behind his ears for a few seconds. 

“Hi, Louis.”

Louis stood up too quickly and felt a bit light headed. He placed a hand gently on Frank’s head to steady himself.

“Hiya.”

“Nora’s just been asking for you,” Harry said, leading Louis to the back and throwing a grin over his shoulder. “How’s everything?”

“Ugh,” Louis sighed. “My landlord is sending someone to repair the floorboards but not for another three weeks.”

“Three weeks?! Yikes.”

“I know,” Louis sighed. “Sorry.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine!” Harry stopped in front of Nora’s cage and smiled fondly. “I’m just really happy she’s got a home to go to.”

Louis watched Harry. He made kissy noises to Nora, who stretched and approached the cage door. As Harry opened the cage, picking Nora up and cooing quietly to her, Louis felt a surge of fondness inside of him. Harry’s dedication to these cats was more than heartwarming and he wondered if Nora would miss him when she came home with Louis.

“You can sit down on the floor over there, if you like. Relax, make yourself at home. It’s clean, I promise.” Harry winked at Louis as he handed Nora over and made his way towards another door. “Let me get her favourite toy so you can have a play.”

Louis sat against the far wall, placing Nora on the floor. She promptly stuck her tail in the air and trotted quickly after Harry.

“Heads up! Sorry!” Louis called to Harry. Harry let out a soft cry a second later, returning with Nora wiggling under his right arm. 

“Naughty girl,” Harry rolled her eyes. He sat on the floor cross legged opposite Louis and smiled. “I suppose we need to start the changeover process.”

“Bless her. You’ve been all she’s known for a year, can’t blame her.”

Harry stroked Nora, who was snaking fluidly between the two of them, rubbing her face on their hands and bumping her side into their knees. Harry looked thoughtful and Louis wished it had been appropriate to ask Harry what he was thinking about.

“She’ll be happier, really.” Harry almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself. He looked up and widened his eyes when he noticed Louis watching him closely. “I have four. I limit myself to five at a time. I really wanted to take Nora but I made a pact with myself to always take the most elderly cats. They’re so unlikely to be rehomed and it’s such a stressful environment for them, you know?”

“Isn’t that really hard?” Louis asked softly. “Bringing them into your home and only having them for a short time… before they…”

“It’s really hard.” Harry took a deep breath, sniffing. “But it’s worth it to know they’re comfortable. Seeing them die is never nice, you know, you never get used to it. But when I remember all the times I caught them snoozing on my bed in the sunlight or darting around the house playing… it’s worth it.”

Louis was welling up again, for fuck’s sake. Harry’s eyes seemed quite shimmery too, and Louis gave him a reassuring smile.

“So, doing your bit for the moggies even when you clock off,” Louis sighed. “Impressive.”

“I try,” Harry smiled sadly. 

Louis tried to picture Harry sitting on a sofa surrounded by five elderly cats. His mouth twitched up into a smile.

“Oh!” Harry said suddenly, scoffing to himself as he pulled something from his pocket. “Forgot about Nora’s mouse.”

He freed the toy mouse from the pocket of his tight jeans and held it up in the air. Nora scurried onto his lap and started to stretch up, sniffing the air and watching the toy closely.

“It’s stuffed with catnip,” Harry whispered loudly. “They’re from the pet aisle of Sainsbury’s. I’d buy a supply of them before you bring her home.”

He threw the mouse at a startled Louis; Nora pounced on Louis, digging her nose in between his legs, where the toy had fallen and Louis let out a pathetic surprised yelp.

“Sorry, sorry!” Harry giggled uncontrollably. “Bad aim.”

Louis rolled his eyes at Harry with a grin as Nora climbed off him and started to scoot the mouse around the floor. 

“I, um…” Harry cleared his throat, standing to his feet and smiling down at Nora, who stopped her task to look up at him with wide, pleading eyes. “I’d better get on. You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

Louis stayed for another twenty minutes and finally felt like he was winning Nora round. Meanwhile, Harry took the opportunity to clean out her cage. He gave Louis a few treats to give Nora and by the time Louis left, he actually felt regretful about leaving her behind.

“I’ll come back later in the week, if that’s okay.”

Harry beamed. “That’s great! Listen, Louis.” Harry walked Louis out of the centre and gently touched Louis’ elbow. “I’m really grateful you’re putting in the effort to come and see her before you take her home. It’s going to really make it easier on her, you know, I reckon she’ll settle really quickly when she comes home with you.”

“Oh, I’m glad.” Louis noticed that Harry’s eyes were twinkling and he got a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Thank you,” Harry said sincerely. “I’ll see you soon.”

If Louis could give Nora a happy, loving home and make Harry happy too, then he could already count moving to London as a roaring success.

-

Louis found himself thinking about Harry and that was unnerving. The sweet, kind man with the bright smile had wormed his way inside of Louis’ mind. Must be Louis’ paternal instinct or something. Harry would be a great father, someday. In fact, he could already be. Louis didn’t actually know anything about him.

On Friday, he turned up to the centre and June was looking stressed on the front desk. Frank looked a bit morose, likely feeding off of June’s energy.

“Hello, Louis,” she sighed, not looking up from the desk as he came through the door. “Harry’s in the back, you can head on through.”

“Oh, cheers!”

Louis walked through the door to the back and immediately heard the strangest of sounds. It was Harry, no doubt. He was quietly growling and crying out.

“Harry?”

“Hi! I’m down the end.”

Louis walked to the end of the room and in the large pen, Harry was laying flat on the floor, an entire litter of older kittens climbing all over him.

“Hi,” Harry said breathlessly with a smile. “Playtime.” 

“That looks like fun,” Louis grinned. “Don’t feel pressured to get up or anything.”

Harry just grinned up at him. “How are you?”

“Yeah, not bad.” Louis shrugged. “You okay? Apart from getting mauled by all these tigers?”

“I mean, you should see me. I go home every day covered in scratches.” 

Louis’ smile melted off his face. He really didn’t need the image of Harry covered in scratches haunting his mind. He blushed at the thought.

“Um, apart from that,” Harry continued, “I’m doing alright.” 

“Good.” Louis watched as Harry tried his best to get the kittens off of him and stand up. He managed to sit up and, after about a minute he climbed to his feet and narrowly avoided stepping on little paws.

“I don’t know why I put myself in these situations,” he sighed as he opened the door to leave and a silver tabby darted out and ran across the room. Louis chased after it and managed to scoop it up in his hands. “Thanks! These guys just got out of quarantine so they’re super super hyped up.”

Harry put his hands on his hips, pouting grumpily as he bent down to face the kitten in Louis’ hands. He tutted at it before taking it and quickly securing it in the cage.

“You’ve certainly got your hands full.”

“Mm,” Harry rolled his eyes. “And now Nora will smell kitten on me and get grumpy. In fact, why don’t  _ you _ get her out?”

Harry opened the cage and Nora walked over. Louis held his hand to her and she sniffed it, happy to come with him when he swooped her up in his arms.

“She’s getting so used to you,” Harry smiled. “Can’t wait for her to come home with you, Louis. You’re going to be an amazing owner to her.”

Louis looked up at Harry and smiled. Their eyes locked for a second and something jolted inside of Louis. He blinked and Harry looked away, clearing his throat.

“Do you want a cup of tea, or anything? I just realised I never ask you…”

“No, no, I’m fine.” A mild sort of panic was bubbling in his stomach. “In fact… I’d better get going.”

“Oh,” Harry said in surprise.

“Sorry. I just… just wanted to pop in to say hi, but I need to be off.”

A pouting Harry saw him out. He looked… disappointed.  _ Fuck. _

Louis couldn’t stop himself from mumbling profanities to himself on the short walk home.  _ Dickhead. Stop assuming every man is flirting with you. _ To top it off, it was raining which put him in an even worse mood. What was his problem? He’d actually just ran away from the cat centre because he made eye contact with another male. Sad.

He didn’t go back again for a whole week. He had to come to terms with the fact that he fancied Harry a bit, but Harry would be out his life soon enough. His floorboards were being fixed tomorrow and once he took Nora home, that was it, and that was for the best. Anything else would just be messy, and messy was absolutely not something Louis was looking for. 

He stepped into the centre and June smiled, telling him to go on through. At first Louis thought that Harry wasn’t there. The back was silent, aside from the odd scratching noise or quiet mewl, until Louis heard a sniff that he definitely recognised.

“Harry?”

“Oh, Louis?” Another sniff. “I’m down the end.”

Louis found Harry in the big pen, sitting in the corner with the kittens climbing over his legs. 

“Hi.”

“Hiya.” Harry blinked up at him and pouted thoughtfully. “You wanna come in?”

Louis shrugged, unlatching the door and quickly stepping inside. The kittens piled off of Harry and ran at Louis.

“You okay?” He asked Harry, who seemed melancholy.

“Hm? Um-” he sighed heavily before patting the floor next to him. Louis wordlessly crossed to the corner and sat down next to him. “One of my cats died a couple of days ago, so I’m not my best today, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, Harry, I’m so sorry.”

“Poor Hettie. I’ve had her close to a year, you know. She was badly abused in her old home. We don’t even know how old she was.”

“Remember what you were telling me, though?” Louis smiled. “You made her happy and comfortable, Harry. That’s a wonderful thing.”

“I’m down to three, now,” he sighed. “Oldest cat here at the moment is thirteen. Suppose I’ll take him, but I prefer to take even older ones.”

“You’re really special,” Louis said quietly, mentally slapping himself.  _ Stop it _ . “What you do is really great.”

“Thanks,” Harry whispered, throwing him a watery smile. 

“Hey,” Louis laughed. “You shouldn’t have brought me in here with all these kittens. Might change my mind on who to take home with me.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t  _ dare!” _ Harry laughed. “You’d break my heart, Louis, and I know you don’t want that.”

“True. Oh, my floorboards are getting repaired tomorrow.”

“Excellent!” Harry smiled brightly. “I’ll need to pop round again, if that’s okay. Just to check, formality, blah blah blah.”

“That’s not a problem at all.”

-

So maybe he did buy some cupcakes this time. And he may have popped to a bakery instead of Sainsbury’s to get them. He may have also bought a plug-in air freshener, but that wasn’t for Harry’s benefit. Not at all.

“Take a seat. Tea?”

“Ooh, yes please.”

“Cake?”

“Oh, no, thank you. I really am trying to keep off the sugar.”

Seriously? Louis rolled his eyes to himself. “Oh, come on. Just one. They’re really fresh.”

Harry turned to look at him with wide eyes and Louis knew he’d got him.

“Just one,” Harry mumbled. “Thanks.”

Louis smirked. “Good lad. Red velvet? Chocolate? Vanilla?”

“I’d kill for a red velvet.”

Louis plated two cupcakes and brought them through, laying them on the coffee table.

“So, have you always had cats?” Louis asked.

“No, I had a dog once.” When Louis headed back to the kitchen to fetch the tea, he could feel Harry’s eyes on him. A thrill shot through him. “She died of bloat quite young.”

“Oh, that’s awful,” Louis frowned as he returned, placing the tea next to the cakes. “Were you young?”

“Mm,” Harry sighed. “I was twenty.”

“Oh,” Louis said with a slight grin. “Well, it’s sad at any age, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. So, you live alone here? Living alone in London’s almost unheard of, you know.”

“Okay, but have you  _ seen _ where I’m living?” Louis scoffed as he sat on the sofa. “This is a shoebox. A rundown shoebox.”

“You’re supposed to be convincing me on how lovely your home is.”

“You already approved me!” Louis laughed incredulously. “You can’t take that back.”

“I can!” Harry grinned, kicking Louis’ foot gently. “And I will, if you mess with me.”

“‘ _ If you mess with me. _ ’ Please.” Louis rolled his eyes. Harry just laughed slightly, watching him. “Yes I live alone. I moved down here on my own, no friends or family.”

Harry raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment. “Didn’t fancy moving in with some random?”

“No.” Louis paused, frowning and staring into the distance. “You know, I wanted to be alone. I left Doncaster where I was constantly surrounded by people and I thought I’d really enjoy just being on my own, in the quiet.”

“Sure.”

“But I was going mad,” Louis grinned. “That’s when I passed Cats Protection and thought, hey! Get a cat!”

“Good choice,” Harry smiled softly. “I’m very glad you came in that day.”

Louis looked away, picking at a loose thread on the sofa. Okay, he liked Harry. He knew he did. But he was so out of practice with this kind of thing and he just didn’t know how he was supposed to act.

“For Nora’s sake, you know?” Harry continued, leaning forward and picking up his cupcake. “She’s very lucky to have you, and you’re very lucky to have her.”

Louis smiled to him. “Yeah, I can’t wait.”

“I’m gonna miss her.” Harry put his cup on the table. “I’m gonna miss your little visits, too, you know. I’ll miss you.”

“You’re very welcome to come and visit any time you like,” Louis told him, looking down at his own lap and smiling. “I think Nora would like that.”

He looked up and Harry was smiling back, leaning his head against the back of the sofa. His curls were slightly unruly, static causing wisps of hair to fly around.

“Thanks.” Harry stuck his finger in the icing of the cupcake, scooping some up and putting his finger in his mouth. “It’ll be our little secret, because I’m not sure I’m allowed to do that.”

“Aren’t you supposed to come and check on her, see how she’s doing?”

“Yeah, once!”

“Yeah, okay. I won’t tell on you.”

Harry grinned at him. “Thanks. Um… I’d better go.”

“Okay.” Louis stood when Harry did, walking him to the door. “Did you even look at the floorboards?”

“Of course I did, what do you take me for?!” Harry laughed. “Eagle eyed, that’s me. You’ll never see me looking, but I see.”

“Okay,” Louis rolled his eyes.

“You can come get her whenever you’re ready,” Harry told him, pausing for a second. “I’ll be in all day tomorrow, so…”

“Alright, I’ll come by tomorrow, then. Got her box here and everything.” Louis pointed at a blue carry box by the door. “Bittersweet day for you, I suppose.”

Harry just nodded, putting his hand on the door handle. He turned to face Louis and reached out a hand and touched his arm, before moving in close and wrapping his arms around him.

“Thank you. For everything,” Harry sighed quietly into Louis’ ear. Louis was surprised but wrapped his arms around Harry. “You’ve made this so easy on both me and Nora. You’re wonderful.”

“I’ve not done anything special, love,” Louis said comfortingly. 

Harry pulled away and looked Louis in the eyes, tight lipped and furrowed brow.

“It’s difficult to explain. I thought that poor girl was with us for good. I was probably a month or two away from taking her home myself, to be honest, and considering Hettie’s just died, I’d probably have finally caved, if you hadn’t already come along.”

“I don’t know whether that’s a good or bad thing,” Louis smiled.

“She’ll be happier here. Here, where she’ll get all your attention.”

Louis shrugged and Harry broke out into a grin.

“See you tomorrow.”

-

Louis had a sneaky suspicion that Harry was on the brink of tears as he placed Nora in Louis’ cat box and shut the lid. Louis gave him a reassuring smile as he took the box from him.

“Alright, well, see you soon?”

“Definitely.” Harry smiled with a sigh. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

Harry led Louis out through reception. Louis stopped to say goodbye to June and give Frank one last scratch behind the ears. Harry opened the door for him and they both stepped outside.

“Um…” Louis cleared his throat. “I’m home most days from like, 3.30. You can get my number off my forms if you want, anyway.”

“I’ll let her get settled for a bit before I come and see you both,” Harry sighed. He hesitated before reaching forward and squeezing Louis’ arm. “Take care. I’d walk you home if I wasn’t on the clock, you know.”

Louis nodded, watching as Harry crouched down to peer through a gap in the cat box.

“Bye, my darling. Be good.”

“I’ll try,” Louis grinned.

Harry rolled his eyes with a grin. Louis took a deep breath, giving Harry a wave as he hesitantly turned and walked off in the direction of home. As he rounded the corner, he looked over his shoulder. Harry was still stood outside the centre, giving Louis one last wave.

-

It was Sunday and Louis was woken up at gone 8am by the sunlight streaming into his room. It had been a long time since he’d been in bed this late. He stretched, yawning, and got a fright when he heard a soft, repetitive thumping noise outside his bedroom door.

The door swung open and Nora sauntered in. She jumped on his bed, crawling up onto his chest and meowing indignantly at him.

“Did you just… open the door? Where’d you learn to do that?!”

Nora glared at him, settling down to lay on his chest, her face inches from his. She started to purr, reaching out her paw to touch Louis’ chin.

“Ow, Nora, claws. That hurts.” He swatted gently at her paw and she reached straight back out for his face. She wiggled in a bit closer and started to lick his chin, his stubble giving friction to her rough tongue. “Ouch! Come on, get off, I’ll get up.”

She turned her tail on him and jumped off the bed, snaking her body and tail around the door frame.

“Mm, Harry was right about you. Stroppy madam.”

Nora meowed up at him.

-

It was pleasant enough having a cat around the place. He’d hoovered three times in the week and a half she’d been here but it was nice to have someone to come home to. Nora loved to sit on the back of the sofa every night when Louis fell asleep watching TV. It was their little routine, and Nora really helped Louis finally feel at home in London.

If there was one thing he missed about Doncaster, it was his mum’s roast dinners. He used to pop round every single Sunday for dinner, and since he’d moved to London his Sundays had been dull and boring. He was just pondering over what to do for dinner when there was a knock at the door.

“Oh, get the door for me, Nora, since you know how.” Louis sighed, grinning to himself and pulling himself up from where he was laying on the sofa. He tried in vain to fix his hair. He hadn’t left the house all day and hadn’t bothered to make himself presentable.

“Hi,” he said, opening the front door. He’d had a sneaky suspicion that it would be Harry. Harry smiled, looking a bit shy, shuffling his toes on the doorstep.

“Hope I’m not intruding,” Harry smiled. “I probably should’ve called but, I was in the area, and…”

“It’s not a problem. You coming in, then?”

Harry blinked at Louis, grinning, before nodding and stepping inside. Louis walked him through the house in silence, and they both reached the kitchen when Harry let out a loud cackle.

“Oh my  _ God.” _ Harry raised his eyebrows when Louis turned to look at him, and he pointed to the small dining table. Nora was sitting on it, limbs tucked in and eyeing Harry curiously. “I can’t believe you let her get away with this shit.”

Louis shrugged helplessly as Nora stood to her feet and approached Harry. Louis watched on as Harry’s face lit up when Nora rubbed against him, purring loudly. 

“You’re the Queen of the castle, aren’t you, troublemaker? God, sitting on tables, honestly.”

“She’s a spoilt little thing,” Louis sighed. “Like you wouldn’t let her get away with all this stuff if you’d taken her home.”

“Okay,” Harry relented. “You’re right.”

“Oh, hey, did you teach her how to open doors?”

“How to open doors? Why or how would I have taught her that?”

“I don’t know,” Louis shrugged. “But she jumped up at my bedroom door this morning and managed to pull the handle down and get in.”

“Hahaha! What a clever girl!” Harry ruffled Nora’s fur before turning to smile placatingly at Louis. “Aww, she’ll keep you on your toes!”

“That is true.” Louis looked at Harry and he realised Harry wasn’t wearing his Cats Protection Polo, and in fact, he was wearing a rather sheer black top. “I can see your nipples.”

“Oh, thanks!” Harry looked down at his body, tugging on his t-shirt. Louis stared at Harry and he shrugged. “What?”

“You consider ‘I can see your nipples’ as a compliment?”

“Yeah,” Harry scoffed.

“Okay then.” Louis widened his eyes. “So, off duty today, then?”

“Oh, yeah.” Harry cleared his throat, fixing his t-shirt again, drawing Louis’ eyes to his torso. He could see dark shadows on Harry’s chest and stomach which he assumed were tattoos. “Look, I hope this is really okay, for me to drop by. I don’t want to overstep or anything. If you were just being polite…”

“It’s honestly fine. In fact-” Louis took a deep breath. “Since you’re here, I was just deciding what to eat. You wanna stay for dinner?”

Something fizzed inside of Louis at Harry’s reaction; he smiled slowly, his eyes glistening as he nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, I’d love to.”

Louis didn’t have many options, and he didn’t want to risk poisoning Harry by being inventive with his cooking, so he suggested they ordered pizza. 

“I’ll pay,” Harry said quickly, shaking his head at Louis’ protests. “No, look, you don’t have to let me come round like this. At least let me pay as a thank you.”

“You’ve thanked me enough.”

“I’m paying.”

When the pizza arrived, it was a race to the door to pay, but Harry won out and Louis shot him evil looks all the way through the meal. Nora sat at their feet, helplessly eyeing their pizza and pleading for something to fall on the floor. After they’d finished, she jumped up on the sofa between them and fell asleep.

“You’ve made me want more cats,” Louis said quietly, grinning to Harry. “Maybe one day I’ll get a load of them, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Much better company than men.”

“Hey!” Harry laughed. “That’s not very nice.”

“Present company excepted, of course.” Louis rolled his eyes. 

“Louis?” Harry asked, grazing his fingertips over Louis’ elbow. “Can I ask? Why did you leave Doncaster?”

Louis paused before letting out a huge, heaving sigh. 

“I don’t wanna get too much into it. Everything was wrong there and I needed to be far away. If I’d had more money, I probably would’ve left the country, to be honest.”

“Jesus.”

“My ex is an arse and the only way to get rid of him for good was to run away.  Sad, but true.”

Harry placed his hand gently on top of Louis’, which was absently stroking Nora’s side as she slept. 

“If it helps, I’m really glad you ran away from your problems.”

Louis let out a soft laugh, sighing. “Well, I’m starting to think it was an okay decision after all.”

Harry smiled back, squeezing Louis’ hand slightly.

“I’d better get home soon. Can’t leave my furry crew waiting too long.”

“Suppose, yeah,” Louis laughed. “I’ll drive you home, if you like. Where do you live?”

“North Finchley.”

So they climbed into Louis’ Mini - the original love of his life - and Louis drove Harry home. The car was mostly quiet for the journey, but Louis got the sneaky suspicion that Harry was watching him out the corner of his eye. Harry told Louis to pull over in front of a small block of flats.

“Thanks for the lift,” Harry smiled. “I’ll give you a ring soon, I’ll pop back round at some point.”

“Thanks for everything, Harry.”

“See you later.” Harry put his hand on the car door handle and pulled. The door cracked open and he turned his head towards Louis. “You wanna come in and meet the cats?”

“Yes,” Louis said immediately.

-

Harry had somehow got back up to five cats since they last spoke and they all crowded around him as they walked into the flat. 

“Okay, okay!” Harry laughed, trying to dodge them all as he walked down the hall. “I know, it’s tea time. Get out from under my bloody feet and I can feed you.”

Louis sat down on the sofa, which was covered in cat hair. He wasn’t surprised, nor was he grossed out by it. In fact, he smiled fondly as he rubbed the thighs of his jeans where they were already absolutely covered in hair.

“They’re a crazy lot,” Harry sighed happily, coming in from feeding the cats and throwing himself down on the sofa next to Louis, bumping thighs. He turned his body to face him, laying his arm on the back of the sofa behind Louis. “Do you, um… want a cup of tea? Or anything?”

Louis was so focused on Harry’s eyes that he barely heard the question. He shook his head, never breaking eye contact and he could tell that Harry was hesitant. He kept moving, tiny little leans forward before stopping himself. 

“I’m so glad I met you,” Harry whispered. 

“Yeah?” Louis replied, his eyes darting down to Harry’s lips as his tongue licked over them. He slipped his hand around the back of Harry’s neck and pulled him close as he moved in. As his lips brushed over Harry’s, he whispered, “Me too.”

They were kissing, and Harry’s mouth was hot and slick, and far more eager than Louis had been expecting. All at once, Harry started to squeeze at Louis’ waist and move in closer, pressing his knee between Louis’.

“Oh, fuck,” Harry whispered, pulling his mouth away and throwing his head back. “God, I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.”

“Have you, now?” Louis smirked, running his hand down Harry’s side and slipping under his t-shirt at his hips. “You’re supposed to be focusing on the cats, mister.”

“I can multitask.”

Louis laughed lightly as his hand trailed over Harry’s hot, smooth skin. It was a breath of fresh air, to be with someone like this. It was new and exciting, something he hadn’t done in years. It was liberating, and before he knew was he was doing he’d pushed Harry flat against the sofa and slid onto his lap, knees bracketing Harry’s narrow hips.

Harry let out a quiet moan as Louis pressed their lips together once again. He opened his mouth to Harry’s tongue and sparks shot through his body as Harry licked languidly into his mouth. He felt a connection with Harry that he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt with anyone before and it was dizzying.

“This… this isn’t why I asked you up,” Harry mumbled against Louis’ mouth, kissing him again with a pleased sound. 

“Oh, come on,” Louis teased, gasping as Harry’s fingertips grazed the waistband of his jeans, “you were hoping, though.”

“I was praying.”

Louis pulled away to look Harry in the eyes as he rutted his crotch into his, pleased at the way Harry’s eyes fluttered closed and his mouth fell open. He started to move in rhythm and Harry started to let out delicious little whines. His fingers pushed past Louis’ waistband and Louis moaned, before-

Louis heard the loud screeching before he felt the sharp claws digging into his back and the weight knocking into him; he was torn between jumping up and clinging to Harry for dear life, so he just rolled off of Harry and the very large, fluffy black cat scrambled from his back and ran out of the room.

“Oh, my God!” Harry whined, trying and failing to keep in a fit of giggles. “Are you okay?”

“What the hell was that?!” Louis squeaked, clutching at his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry grinned. “My fault. I should’ve warned you about Derek. He’s very possessive.”

Despite the encounter, Louis was not deterred, and he was never not surrounded by cats again. Cats became his life, day in, day out: cat biscuits and catnip and toy mice, pouches of wet food and cat combs full of fur. Of course, he and Harry made time for each other. When they climbed into bed at night they’d cuddle, often exhausted from a hard day’s work and stinging from dozens of cat scratches, but they were in this boat together, at least, and they were always alone at night.

Except, of course, for the column of cats who slept in the bed between them, Nora always snuggling down between their pillows, content to be between her two favourite people in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked that, you'll love [this Tumblr post](https://catfishau.tumblr.com/post/171883067736/dinosaursmate-nora-by-dinosaursmate). Thank you.


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